thread storage finally

I have had my threads in a box for a while now. It's just so messy- a tangled mess of thread.

If you ever need inspiration for anything- there is always pintrest.

I found this storage box at bunning's. It's clear so I can see the thread inside and large enough to fit the spools I have.  I have seen actual thread storage boxes at spotlight but I didn't want to spend $25+ on thread storage.

I'm loving the rainbow effect of thread I already own. I now can find thread I need and already added black thread to my need to purchase list. I have 36 spools in the box and room for a fair few more. 

I still have a box of end of thread spools that I won't be throwing away any time soon. This thread is super handy for hand stitching projects - quilts, hoops, buttons.

A clear storage box with compartments is a pretty and cheap storage win!

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a quick train track fix

I brought a bag of wooden train track on our Op-Shop day. I was pretty happy with my purchase given how expensive the track is to buy new.

I got it home to find that 20 or so tracks were missing the male end that hold to tacks together (argh!!!). I had a look on-line and found that no one sells the male end for track- they just come on the track.

These are the male ends we already had on our assortment of track.

A few helpful suggestions later- sticky velcro was the winner!

I brought 1/2 metre of tan coloured adhesive from Spotlight for $4.95.

A very simple and cost effective solution to track missing the male ends. I just cut a small amount to fit the ends.

So simple and effective. It holds the track together with enough stick and can also be taken apart easily when you need to change the track layout.

Now the track has been added to our bucket of wooden trains ready to be played with. Simple!

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lots of paint

One thing my boys really enjoying is painting.... good paper and two enthusiastic boys + paint = fun!

I am very glad I put down large amounts of paper on the table

They are so good together painting. They had to wait and share the paint brushes and the colours.

Such an easy afternoon activity and of course now I have plenty of original art work on our fridge.

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Drawing a little

One thing I miss since having the boys is the time/creative energy and inspiration to paint and draw. I have found that other things like sewing, crocheting, baking and being creative and crafting in other ways has become so much easier around daily family stuff.
I do make sure we do other craft/creative things with the boys and they love it!

We brought some nice drawing paper and sat down together and drew.....

Master B's pirate map

Master W's banana

my drawing

Is there a craft or something you miss doing?

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Our Family Christmas Advent Calender

Last year I created our very own advent pots. I have had really positive feed back about the pots from people who visited and saw them and also other bloggers with children and so many excited families ready to create their own. You can check out Miriams here.

Here are some photos of us making family advent memories...

Day 1- Decorate Christmas Tree

Day 3- Decorate new decorations

Day 4- make (in our case buy) cards and give to friends

Day 5- Write a letter to Santa

Day 9- Get a family Santa  photo

Day 10- Make and decorate Christmas biscuits 

Day 16- Play games as a family 

Its been great doing something each day!!

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Paper Craft- City Scene

We are using the book 365 Things to do with Paper and Cardboard we borrowed from the library to find inspiration while using paper. We have drawn cats and now we are doing a city scene

We are using things from around the house- scrapbooking paper, magazine and plain white paper.

We stuck 3 A4 pages together and using the the book as inspiration we started cutting, sticking and drawing.

cutting house shapes

our houses

I made a few houses and an apple tree and Master B made a banana tree (adorable)

banana tree with bird house

train and tunnel

It was fun creating a city scene and the great thing about using a magazine is you have so many options for text images it makes for interesting building colours and patterns. These have been great quiet activities and wonderful watching Master B's imagination grow!

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Paper Crafts- Colour by numbers

I came across this E is for Elephant activity page in Google Reader the other day from a blogger I follow and thought it would be perfect as a quiet activity for the boys to do together. The great thing was it's something that allows Master B to read and work by numbers and great for encouraging Master W that he can also participate and complete a task like his big brother.

We printed out two copies and also found a Elmer in the snow book from the op shop for 25c!

E is for Elephant pdf here

It was really enjoyable for me watching, helping and encouraging the boys finding all the numbers they need.There were also a few nice moments of the boys sharing colouring pencils and telling each other how nice Elmer was looking.

They were both very concentrated

They both have such adorable little hands

They are nearly complete

inspecting the finished product

Master B's masterpiece 

Master W's Masterpiece

They both did so well! Elmer was such a fun elephant to colour in!

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